Women first in Playhouse Creatures

A moving and comic account of the first English actresses to tread the stage will be played out in Teddington.

Journeyman Theatre Company present Playhouse Creatures, which features Nell Gwynne’s rise to fame and fortune.

Set in bawdy and troublesome 1670, the theatres have just re-opened after 17 years of oppression under the Puritans, encouraging a great upsurge in dramatic writing.

At the heart of the development of drama was the entrance of the first English actresses on stage.

Writer April de Angelis took five famous figures, Nell Gwynne, Elizabeth Farley, Rebecca Marshall, Doll Common and Mary Betterton, to give audiences an insight into the unpredictable actresses of the time.

The true lives of restoration actresses are played by Georgina Armour as 16-year-old Nell Gwynne, Astrid Maslen as Mary Betterton - the lead actress and Eva Von Mitzka as Doll Common - the general dogsbody of the group.

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The actresses tread the boards at the playhouse, which was once a bear pit, hence the title of the play - Playhouse Creatures.

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